


now's not the time for wailin', while there's water in the river

by UntoldDepths



Category: DCU, Red Robin (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Clothes Stealing, Disordered Eating, Established Relationship, I'm trying to tag triggers but I can't guarantee anything, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Multi, Natural Disasters, earthquake, please look after yourself, vague post!BruceQuest timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:54:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28865127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UntoldDepths/pseuds/UntoldDepths
Summary: After so many people who love him died, it's amazing Tim can continue to love.But after a weekend at Titan's Tower turns bad in a situation that never seems to end, his love for his boyfriends-returned-from-the-dead will be severely tested.Or:It was only supposed to be brunch and a day hanging out with the girls. But then the world shook.
Relationships: Bart Allen/Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19
Collections: TimKonBart Secret Santa 2020





	now's not the time for wailin', while there's water in the river

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ace_corvid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ace_corvid/gifts).



> I started writing this for TimKonBart Secret Santa 2020, but it's gonna be a much bigger project than that.
> 
> Title comes from Salisbury Street by John Williamson. Thanks to Bumpkin and Apples for beta reading.

When Tim woke up, he was alone in last night's blanket nest. This wasn't a surprise: he'd still been up playing classic Super Mario Brothers even after Kon and Bart had fallen asleep, trying to rescue all the Toads and Princess Peach. And it wasn't like any of them had anything resembling a regular sleep schedule. He rolled over and absently noticed that the console had been packed away and everything turned off. Content and knowing Bart and Kon wouldn't expect him out of bed before lunch, he rolled over and closed his eyes again.

Something crashed in the kitchen, followed by Bart's exclamation of dismay. Groaning, Tim pushed himself up and decided to see what the others were up to. He snatched Conner's flannel from where it had been banished to the couch early in the night and pulled it on. In peak boyfriend fashion, the bottom floated around the hem of his boxer shorts and the sleeves swallowed his hands. But it was a barrier between Tim's skin and the chill air, so he forgave the shirt its plaid sins.

Groggily, he shuffled his way to the tower kitchen, intent on dealing with whatever his boyfriends were up to. Just after he'd corrected his caffeine levels.

"Oh, hey Tim," Bart greeted him, uncharacteristically slow. "Did you sleep well?"

Tim ignored both Bart and the rest of the kitchen. He didn't want to know what was going on until he absolutely had to deal with it. The coffee machine was in sight. Nothing else mattered.

"Woah, Tim!" Kon swept Tim up in his TTK before he could even get past the bench. "You gotta wake up a bit, Rob. Kitchen's not safe for sleepy little birds like you."

Tim leaned into Kon's warm - bare! - chest and let his eyes slip closed a little. "Kon," he whined, "Coffee." Absently, he registered that Kon was floating, not actually walking, but he didn't pay it any mind.

"How about we go out for brunch instead?" Kon asked, setting Tim down on his feet in the hall and pushing him towards the bedrooms. "You could use some sunlight, you little night gremlin."

"Brunch?" Tim asked, confused.

"Yeah, brunch!" Bart cheered. "You know, that meal between breakfast and lunch? Because it's almost ten and I already ate breakfast.” He wooshed down the hall and back, stopping in front of Tim freshly dressed. Tim winced at the sight. 

Kon spun around to face the kitchen and groaned Bart's name. Tim tried to turn around to see but Kon still had him in his TTK and so he couldn't. "You clean up the mess while I get Timmy ready," he ordered Bart.

"I can get myself ready," Tim protested. As if on cue, the clock chimed the new hour, striking the bell four times in two sets of two. Tim thought its disbelief was unwarranted.

"Sure," Kon agreed blithely. He relaxed his TTK and Tim felt himself listing forward. He corrected and instead swayed left and right. Mostly. "I feel very comfortable letting you out of my sight right now." He rubbed Tim's shoulders and reasserted his TTK supports. "Please, Tim. Let us help you when you need it."

Tim couldn't deal with that right now, so he didn't. "As long as Bart puts on something less loud," he declared, retinas still burning from being forced to see that so early in the morning.

"Excuse you!" Bart complained. "This is the height of fashion!"

"A neon tracksuit can't have been brunch wear in the eighties and it certainly isn't today; please wear something easier on my aching head."

Kon pushed Tim to walk down the hallway while Bart once again ran off. All the while, he rubbed his thumbs into the muscles along the back of Tim's neck and along his spine. "You have a headache? And you've been extra stumbly today. Are you sick? We can just have a lazy day in if you're not feeling well."

"I'm fine, Kon," Tim said. He groaned and allowed his eyes to slip closed as Kon massaged a particularly stubborn knot in his neck. "I always get like this if I sleep more than four hours. The headache will go away with coffee and the rest when I've woken up properly."

"Rob, Red, Red Rob," Kon whined, pressing his face into Tim's hair. Tim's sleeping habits - perfectly healthy thank you very much - were a constant source of grief among his friends. "Go sit on the bed, you little gremlin," Kon said, giving Tim a shove and withdrawing his TTK. Tim stumbled forward until he ran into something soft with his knees and collapsing into it.

"Wha-?" He rolled onto his back and pried his eyes open to the blessed darkness and painted ceiling of his own room. "Oh."

"Put these on," Kon ordered, throwing two balls of fabric at Tim. "No complaints. It's the only clean ‘going out’ clothes you have in there. I'm not even sure if they're yours. I'll come back for you when I'm dressed." He made the _I'm watching you_ gesture at Tim as he left.

Tim obediently pulled on the jeans, a pair of Cassie's he bought her for an undercover operation while Kon was dead; and the shirt, a casual button up he'd probably worn for a flight over in the summer and left here. Feeling strangely uncomfortable and knowing the day was supposed to be chilly, he pulled Kon's flannel back on and started rolling up the sleeves.

Kon wouldn't be able to complain if he made it a Look, after all.

He was just finished tying his sneakers when Bart and Kon both appeared in his door, nicely dressed. Even if Bart was wearing a polka dot blouse with a floral A-line skirt and his STAR lab issue high tops.

"You ready to go?" Tim asked them, standing up and actually able to walk under his own power this time. He picked up his backpack. The one he never leaves base without.

"Yup, let's go!" Bart cheered. "There's this Australian place Cassie was telling me about that does a really good Big Breakfast. Apparently they have a 'breakfast burger.' With beetroot!"

Tim listened happily while Bart regaled them about all kinds of breakfast foods he'd eaten internationally. Kon even asked questions. Sometimes he couldn't believe they were back in his life. Sometimes they did something especially stupid and he wanted to make them sit in time out. But he would do whatever it takes if it meant having more moments like these.

"You're awfully quiet down there, Tim," Kon remarked at one point, slinging an arm over Tim's shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Tim looked up at Conner to reassure him and then over at Bart, jumping up and down as they waited for the light to change. "I'm just. I'm glad we get to have this." He yawned, still more sleepy than awake, and snuggled closer into Kon's warmth and safety.

"So am I," Kon replied, wrapping his arm tighter around Tim.

"Me too," Bart declared, rushing into them and turning it into a three person hug. Kon rocked a bit with the force of it and someone nearby screamed. Tim snuggled into their suddenly tense hold, hoping Gotham would take care of its own.

Belatedly, Tim realised he wasn't in Gotham and pushed himself out of the tangle. He forced himself to wake up more and scanned the area for trouble.

As he searched, a truck drove through the intersection at speed and T-barred a convertible, the majority of the pedestrians seemed shaken but not injured, and the traffic lights were flashing yellow. Meanwhile, a heavily pregnant woman was sitting on the footpath, cradling her stomach and panting while everyone else ignored her. She seemed the most likely candidate for the screaming.

"Kon, Bart, do what you can for the pile up," Tim decided, having processed all that in less than two seconds. He'd have to trust their judgement on how much to use their powers. "I'm going to deal with the lady there and first aid."

"Because you keep a med kit in that bag of yours?" Kon asked, but he did turn towards the wreck and get to work.

"Isn't it a boy scout thing to always be prepared?" Tim teased, knowing Kon would hear him even though they were turned away from each other.

There was a kid fussing around and getting in the way, so Tim decided the woman would keep. As Tim got closer he could make out that the kid was concerned, trying to decide between helping the pregnant woman and helping with the car crash. They were mumbling under their breath, but Tim wasn't close enough to hear.

"Hey kid," Tim called, trying to get their attention.

"But what if there's gas on the road? Just one spark and..." the kid kept mumbling without hearing Tim at all. This close, Tim could see his eyes starting to cloud over with panic.

"Kid!" he barked, putting his hands on the kid's shoulders and keeping them there. Eventually, the kid managed to look Tim in the eyes and register what was going on. "You want to help?" The kid nodded emphatically. "Good. Call 9 1 1. Stay near me and relay to them what is happening." The kid reached for his phone and Tim let him go.

In the time since the accident, mere seconds had passed but entire lifetimes when it counts. The pregnant woman had managed to scoot herself to the building and was using the wall to start pushing herself up off the ground.

"Ma'am, are you ok?" Tim asked, offering out a hand. She looked at him but didn't take his hand, just kept trying to stand. It looked like she was in a lot of pain. "Ma'am, please. Let me help."

"I don't need-" the woman started to say. She cut herself off with a groan, clutching her stomach and leaning against the wall.

"Ma'am, is your baby coming?" Tim asked urgently, making the woman sit back down when it looked like her legs wouldn't hold her up much longer. He looked at the kid he'd deputised and got a thumbs up in return. "An ambulance has been called, so-"

"You didn't feel it?" the woman asked, cutting Tim off.

"Feel what?"

Immediately after Tim asked the question - as if in response - the earth shook violently. All around them people stumbled.

"Earthquake," Tim breathed. "A big one." Above and around him, glass shattered and steel groaned. "Let's get you somewhere safe," he decided, tugging the woman up and situating himself under her armpit despite her earlier protests. Something groaned and snapped alarmingly above him, but Tim didn't look.

"Tim!!" Kon screamed, before he was suddenly in front of them and holding up a large piece of fallen building. Bart was there a blink later and pushing Tim, the pregnant woman and the kid out from under the debris. Tim turned around just in time to see another piece fall on the first, and then collapse.

Crushing Kon underneath.

"Kon!!" Tim screamed, instinctively moving towards the wreckage. He was brought up short by the woman's arm over his shoulder. Reminded of the disaster happening around them, Tim shoved his emotions and memories deep into his heart. And locked them there. "We have to get moving. Imp, take her to the hospital,” - he waves his head at the woman he’s holding - “get comms and the earthquake kits, then meet back here."

Bart looked stricken and distressed. Briefly, Tim felt bad: Bart loved Kon, of course he'd be distressed. He loved him too, but there wasn't time for that, so he pushed on.

"Bart!" He snapped, when Bart didn't move. “Take her to the hospital.”

"There was a kid in the convertible with a neck wound," Bart says, a bit listlessly. Then he vibrates, shaking himself into gear, and vanishes. He left Tim with the pregnant woman, hopefully trying to save the kid.

"What's your name, kid?" Tim asked, turning to the kid he'd deputised right at the beginning.

"Dylan," the kid answered. He was pale and his freckles stood out on his face. "The call with 9-1-1 dropped. Should I try to get them back?"

"That's ok," Tim says, brain churning at the information. "They'll be backed up pretty soon. Get her other side." The woman's weight lightened on Tim's shoulders as Dylan did as told. Tim pulled his backpack onto his front while also turning to look at all the shocked bystanders.

"We're not safe here!" He called out in his best authoritative voice. "If you're able, help the wounded evacuate. If you can't, evacuate yourself so you don't become the next casualty!" 

The crowd shifted into movement, checking on each other and calling for help. Satisfied, Tim led the way to a clear area nearby where they'd be able to take stock safely. With one hand, he dug around in his backpack for the emergency phone he kept in there, sealed in a waterproof plastic pocket.

"Shit!" Dylan swore, drawing Tim's attention. He had his phone held up to his ear.

"What's wrong?" Tim asked. "Who are you trying to call?"

"My aunt. She lives in Dallas, so she's the designated family contact. My mum's the contact if something happens in Texas, but it's not going through."

"The lines will be crowded," Tim told him. "Help me with this, will you?" He held out the phone and between the two of them they managed to extract it from its housing. Immediately, Tim dialed a number he'd memorized but had never been used.

"We just established the lines are down, who do you think you're going to call?" Dylan asked. At the same time, the line picked up.

" _The all-knowing, state your name and business,_ " Oracle's computerised voice demanded.

"O, it's me," Tim said, trusting Barbara and her equipment to identify him. “Not in the tower right now, but-”

" _Saw the news, kid. I don't recognise the number you're calling from_."

"Emergency sat.phone," Tim answered curtly. "We were on the street when-"

"Fuuuck!" the woman groaned, high and breathy and curling in on herself. Tim grunted as he was forced to take nearly all of her weight. He was too well trained to swear in front of civilians, but he desperately wanted to. "The baby's coming!"

"Think you can walk me through delivering a baby, O?" Tim asked. His voice wavered, betraying the edges of panic sneaking in around his walls.

"I've read up on it," Dylan volunteered while Barbara was spluttering in alarm. "My sister is 29 weeks, I wanted to be able to help."

Tim didn't actually hear her confirmation. If she gave it, it was covered by someone screaming in pain and Bart finally returning. "Awesome!" Tim declared, ignoring that fact and patting Dylan on the shoulder, "O will be your new best friend. O, I'm going to hand the phone over to Dylan. He's just a kid but he wants to help. And I'm Alvin." He thrust the phone at Dylan before she could protest. "There's some medical supplies in my backpack you can use. Don't eat, drink or take anything unless you know exactly what it is."

He barely waited for Dylan to nod his understanding before he got up and went over to Bart - now dressed as Kid Flash - and accepted the earthquake kit and comm unit Bart held out to him. He turned the comm on and placed it in his ear.

"Suzie!" A woman screamed, clutching onto a child's backpack. "Has anyone seen my daughter?!" She was stumbling back towards the collapsing building, passed a man sobbing over his broken leg: it had a bone poking out at the shin. A cursory glance showed that everyone else was at least conscious on their own, if a few were a bit banged up and quiet.

"I-can-go-look-for-Suzie," Bart said in a rush. Tim barely managed to grab his wrist before he ran off. "Ti-"

Tim slapped a hand over his mouth. "Alvin," he hissed. He didn't let up his hand until Bart nodded his understanding. "If you go looking for the girl, can you guarantee you won't disturb anything delicate?"

"I'm a superhero," Bart replied. As if that meant anything.

"If you so much as step wrong," Tim hissed urgently, "You could bring the entire building down. Especially at super speed. Promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise I'll be careful," Bart echoed, solemn. Tim nodded and let him go question the mother.

Tim himself made his way to the man with the broken leg. He sat down and pulled out the medical supplies he'd need from the earthquake kit. "I'm Alvin. Do you mind if I take a look at your leg?"

"You're just a kid," someone complained. Tim glanced up to see a man who looked nearly identical to the man with the broken leg. They could be brothers, or they could just be hipsters. "What could you possibly do?"

"I have advanced first aid training," Tim answered shortly. "What's his name?"

"He's Derek and I'm Kyle. Do you really-"

"Derek, can you hear me?" Tim asked, ignoring Kyle. Derek nodded, so Tim carried on. "Can I take a look at your leg?" Derek nodded again. Taking a firm grasp of Derek's shoe, Tim gently pulled the laces out. "I need to make sure you have circulation in your foot. Just bear with me." Carefully, he managed to get Derek's foot exposed. He probed around the ankle and calf for signs of anything wrong. "It's a good thing you're wearing shorts," he joked, "Otherwise I'd have to cut your pants open. The good news is I can set and splint this and you'll be alright until you can get to a hospital. The bad news is I've only got over-the-counter painkillers, which won't help you."

"Do it," Derek grunted.

"It's going to hurt," Tim warned him. "You need something to bite down on." He pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and got Kyle, finally shutting up, to open some gauze for him. Meanwhile, Derek pulled out his wallet and held it between his teeth. Tim took that as agreement and got himself a good hold on Derek's leg. "On three," he said. "One. Two."

On two, he pulled on Derek's leg and guided the bone into place while Derek screamed through his wallet. Immediately, Tim slapped the gauze onto the bleeding puncture wound and held it there. When the blood flow finally slowed, he covered the wound with fresh gauze and the start of a bandage. In quick, efficient movements he had Derek's leg bound and splinted.

"All done," Tim declared. "I'll give you some painkillers just in case, but you should try to stay off that leg until you get proper medical attention."

"Thank you," Derek wheezed, panting.

"You're welcome," Tim answered, already standing up to move on. He made his way through the crowd, checking everyone for concussions, shock and other injuries. He did what he could to help them, even pairing people up to look after each other. Eventually, he made his way back to Dylan. The kid and an older woman were doing an admirable job as midwives.

"You're doing so well, Lilah," Dylan praised, patting her sweaty hair with one hand while the other was crushed in her grasp. He had the phone cradled against his shoulder. Finally, an incident team showed up. Tim made his way over to meet them.

"Everything under control here?" A severe looking woman in the lead asked. Tim assumed from her uniform and bearing that she was in charge. "We heard there was a pile up here just before the quake hit? Including a pregnant woman."

"A corner building collapsed while we were still reeling from the crash," Tim reported. "We have a woman in labour; a man with a broken leg, splinted; Kid Flash is searching for a missing child, there's a-"

"Kid Flash?" a firefighter asked, cutting Tim off. "Is that wise?"

"I promised to be careful," Bart said, suddenly appearing behind the speaker. He was covered in dust and holding a little girl, but otherwise appeared unharmed. "There's only one survivor left in the building, trapped under a table and some rubble. I can't get him out safely."

"Thank you, Kid Flash," the woman in charge said. "What about the crash victims?"

"It was a low speed crash," a voice said from behind Tim. The speaker was a man who'd been walking around helping people earlier; Tim pegged him as a veteran. "Injuries were low but gas was leaking, so we got people out for speed over safety."

"That's not-" the woman in probable command started, pain in every line of her face.

"We were working with what we had, ma'am. It's a miracle we got everyone out at all, especially without a fire." He glanced pointedly over Tim's head, where smoke was rising into the air over the buildings.

"Okay," she said, halfway to a sigh. Tim took the opportunity to sneak over to Dylan and Lilah. Dylan saw him coming, watching the scene with obvious interest and cradling his abused hand.

"Thanks Alvin," the kid said holding out the satellite phone.

"You're all good?" Tim asked, just to make sure.

"Yeah," Dylan replied. "Your computer friend got me in contact with my aunt. I'm going to stay with Lilah for as long as I can; I at least know that I'm helping here.

"Okay," Tim agreed. He accepted the phone and his backpack and slid away before anyone else could stop him. Bart caught up to him a moment later, when he'd left the main assembly area.

" _Oi!_ " a tinny voice barked from Tim's hand. Tim lit up the screen of the emergency phone to see it was still in a call. Sheepishly, he lifted it up to his ear.

"Hey, O. You doing okay?"

" _Am I okay?_ " Barbara asked disbelievingly. " _I'm safe in my office in Gotham. Alvin, that quake was a seven point three._ "

"That's not good," Tim breathed. He stumbled as an aftershock hit. "I need my hands free, O. Can you connect to the Titans' comm frequency?"

" _I can't help you, Boy wonder,_ " Babs explained apologetically. " _I have to-_ "

"Yeah, of course," Tim cut her off. "Thanks for helping this much." He hung up and tucked the phone away, not wanting to drag that out. Oracle's help would be useful, but if she was busy it couldn't be helped. His comm hissed to life and Tim held a hand up to his ear in a superfluous effort to hear it better.

" _This is Wonder Girl. I'm at the tower and ready to help._ "

"Alvin here, Wonder Girl," Tim responded. "KF and I are in the San Fran Marina area, major damages. We could use your help."

" _On my way,_ " Cassie reported. " _What about SuperBoy?_ "

"He-" Bart choked out. "In the first-" He stopped and shuddered, his emotions getting the better of him.

"Out of action," Tim ground out. "There's nothing we can do about it now, we have people to save."

"You didn't even try," Bart growled, tears visibly welling up in his eyes. "You just shut down your emotions and moved on."

"I did what I had to. We need to get a move on," Tim said. He ruthlessly squashed any feelings of guilt and made his way to help someone he could see climbing their way out of the rubble.

No time for grief in an emergency.  


* * *

  
The afternoon immediately following the San Francisco earthquake turned out to be one of the hardest in Tim's vigilante career. And he still wasn't wearing his suit. Which was a big part of the difficulty.

Several hours of escorting injured and shocked civilians, trying to keep other good samaritans from becoming victims, herding the Teen Titans that had come around on their day off, and dealing with the well meaning adults unable to see past his age. It had all taken its toll on Tim. And that was without Tim's constant efforts not to think about Kon.

By the time Bart and Cassie - having changed into civilian wear - joined him in front of a church just after dark, the events of the day had started to make Tim feel sick.

"Come on, Tim," Bart cajoled, "Free food for volunteers. Getting something to eat won't hurt."

"I'm not stopping you," Tim said, sighing. "Just catch up soon, okay?"

"You need to eat too, Tim," Cassie said. She stood behind Tim, both hands holding his shoulders so he couldn't get away.

"I'm not feeling well," Tim explained. "And there's still so much work to do." He tried to duck out of Cassie's hold, despite knowing the futility of it. As expected, he ended up in the same predicament, just facing her instead.

"You're not feeling well," Cassie repeated slowly, searching Tim's face for any sign of a tell. Tim was too well practised a liar to fall for that, though. "When's the last time you ate? Breakfast?"

"Actually, we were on our way to brunch when the quake hit," Bart interjected before Tim could attempt to talk his way out of that one. Bart even waved his arms around at the damage helpfully, as if anyone could have missed it. "So unless he managed to eat something when neither of us was looking, his last meal would be that diner salad from dinner last night."

"Yes, thank you Bart," Tim said, a bit more sarcastically than he had intended. "But that doesn't change anything. I don't feel like eating right now."

"You haven't eaten all day, Tim. You need the food," Cassie said. She started herding him and Bart towards the back of the food line. Obviously, Tim had no choice in the matter. "You'll probably feel better after eating."

The line was fast moving and relatively short, so they quickly had bowls of stew and a place to sit. Bart and Cassie dug in immediately, but Tim poked at his suspiciously.

"Don't play with your food, Tim," Cassie scolded him. She dumped a couple mushrooms in Tim's bowl and a few more in Bart's. "And stop worrying so much about your girlish figure, you exercise too much for that to be an actual concern."

"You need the calories, Tim," Bart chimed in.

"You need them more," Tim returned. He exchanged his still full bowl for Bart's empty one and picked up his buttered roll. "Happy now?" he asked mulishly.

Bart shoved the bowl back at him. "I won't eat it. It's yours and we need you in top form."

"You need the food more than I do, Bart. And they won't give us any more," Tim explained. It was only logical to get the speedster and the meta fed first.

"I ate breakfast," Bart refuted, "And I've been snacking on protein bars all day."

"If you want to go back out there, and I know you do," Cassie interrupted, "Then you need to eat something. We aren't letting you leave here until you do."

Tim opened his mouth to argue his point some more, but was cut off by Bart shoving a spoonful of stew at him. He angrily chewed and swallowed the mouthful and then glared at Bart as he scooped up another spoonful. Knowing that further attempts at arguing would just result in him being spoon fed the entire meal, he snatched up Cassie's abandoned cutlery and fed himself.

"Happy now?" he asked, angrily slamming the flimsy plastic bowl down and tearing at the remains of his bread.

"You're going to make yourself sick one day, eating like that," Cassie told him. There was no pleasing some people, Tim thought, but she did get up and start collecting their trash. Privately, Tim acknowledged that he did feel better after eating.

"Much happier," Bart confirmed, draping himself against Tim's back. "Let's get back to work."

Sobering and putting all joking aside, they grimly headed back into the wreckage of the city, searching buildings and dissuading looters. As the night wore on they found progressively fewer living people. By the time the moon was setting, they'd only seen each other and bodies for the last hour.

"Maybe we should call it a night," Bart said suddenly, breaking the glum silence that had long settled between the three of them. Tim was jolted out of a fugue state and he realised he'd been running on autopilot for he didn't know how long.

"If you need to," Tim told him, surveying his surroundings and actually noticing them consciously for the first time in a while. They were outside a collapsed building, half a sign proclaiming it an 'early enrichment centre'. They'd managed to salvage a handful of childrens' toys, the body of one greying caretaker and a schedule from the wreckage. Cassie's hair was falling out of a bun she'd put it in shortly after dinner in loose, sweaty strands and the false dawn light was making Bart look wan. "I don't think I can stop right now." Even to himself it sounded cold.

"Do you even feel anything right now?" Cassie demanded, whirling around to face him. "You've been pushing through all day, moving from one person to the next and not even talking about-"

"No I don't!" Tim snapped. "We've got a job to do and I'll do whatever I have to in order to complete it."

"Do you even hear yourself?" Cassie hissed. Tim ignored her. "Did Batman teach you that? Teach you to repress everything until it's time to hit some poor schmuck on the street?"

Tim still didn't answer her.

"What about the kids, Tim!" She shouted, waving her arm at the half collapsed building. "Aren't you at least worried there might have been children inside when the building collapsed?"

"Guys shut up!" Bart barked, suddenly between them. "I hear something," he said, calmer, while they were still shocked into silence. In the stillness, Tim was barely able to make out the sound of knocking and a muffled call of 'someone out there? Anyone?' Before Tim could react, Bart was already off, darting between rubble and shouting back. “We hear you!”

"Let me help," Cassie called after him as he stumbled.

Tim watched with a bad feeling as they shifted bits of rubble unearthing a little girl and bringing her over to him. He sat the girl down and checked her vital signs. She was covered in dust and dirt and a little worse for wear, but other than that merely sleeping. "She's okay," he called out to where Cassie and Bart were still digging. "Guys?"

"Gotta get," Cassie grunted, shifting a bigger piece of rubble, "her mother." A woman's hand popped out of the hole Cassie had made, hair tangled and matted with blood. Cassie didn't seem able to move, having to hold the gap open while Bart pulled the woman out and guided her over to Tim. They both collapsed onto the ground just as the sun's first rays made their appearance.

"Well done, Cassie, Bart," Tim praised. Their first rescue in hours.

"Who knows when they would have found us, if you hadn't been here," the mother said, as much to the world in general as to Tim.

"Why didn't they pull you out already?" Cassie asked, floating over to join the pile. "The caretaker was pretty obviously dead in the initial collapse, but aren't these places supposed to keep track of everyone in the building?"

"They didn't know we were there," she said, eyelids drooping. Tim got out the last of his med kit with a pointed look at the blood in her hair. "I was just dropping Riley off when-" She broke off, not needing to elaborate and words growing slurred. Tim shone a penlight in her eyes, checking her for a concussion and still trying to identify the bad feeling starting to send alarm bells ringing through his brain.

"Hey Bart, can you-"

That's what the bad feeling was! The way Bart had looked so slow and careful, at least for him, when he was searching through the debris.

"Bart?" Tim asked, panic rising up faster and stronger than he could repress. In the early sunrise, Bart's face didn't look so much wan as sunken. His cheeks were hollow and his shirt, one of Tim's, was slipping down his shoulder and showing his protruding collarbones. "Bart!" Tim repeated, louder and frantic but to no response. He tapped Bart on the cheek a few times before deciding to check his pulse.

He got nothing from both.

He remembered Kon, a little over twelve hours earlier. Crushed under a piece of building to save Tim and Tim hadn't even _tried_. He hadn't even checked, just got on with the mission like Bruce had taught him.

"Bart!" Tim yelled, forcing himself to work through the grief. Forcing himself to lay Bart down and begin CPR. Tim saw that he was still wearing Kon's flannel, had been wearing it the whole time. The realisation had his eyes burning, tears swimming in his vision and threatening to effectively blind him.

"Tim," Cassie said.

"I should have insisted harder," Tim gasped between pumping breaths into Bart's lungs. "At dinner. He needed more food."

Cassie let him go on for a while before she interrupted again. "Tim, it's not your fault."

"Don't!" Tim snapped. He shrugged off Cassie's hands when she tried to pull him away. "Cassie, don't. I can't lose-" He broke off with a choked sob.

"I'm sorry, Tim," Cassie said, almost so quiet he didn't hear it. Something struck him in the neck and Tim collapsed.

The last thing Tim saw before the world went dark was the new, pale scars still not fully healed on Bart's collarbone and face.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sorry. Please make sure you drink plenty of water. Eat if you haven't already today and take your meds if you have to.


End file.
